Lola Ridge
Lola Ridge (December 12, 1873 - May 19, 1941) was an American poet, an anarchist, and an influential editor of avant-garde, feminist, and Marxist publications.Lola Ridge: Biography, Modern American Poetry, University of Illinois. Web, Jan. 25, 2015. Life Overview Ridge is best remembered for her long poems and poetic sequences.Lola Ridge: Biography, Modern American Poetry, University of Illinois. Web, Jan. 25, 2015. She, along with other political poets of the early Modernist period, has been coming under increasing critical scrutiny at the beginning of the 21st century.Robert Pinsky, "Street Poet," Slate, March 22, 2011. Web, Jan. 25, 2015. Youth Born in Dublin, Ridge grew up in New Zealand and Australia, and moved to San Francisco in 1907.Lola Ridge 1873-1941, Poetry Foundation. Web, Mar. 4, 2014. Career Her debut collection, The Ghetto, and other poems, was published in 1918. The book was a critical success and led to her involvement with avant-garde magazines such as Others: A magazine of the new verse and Broom. Ridge went on to publish 4 more books of poetry. October 22, 1919, she married David Laws. In 1929, she went to Yaddo. She died in Brooklyn in 1941. Political activities Although never a member of any political party, Ridge protested against the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927, for which she was arrested. She also supported Tom Mooney and Warren Billings, who had been framed for a bombing at the Preparedness Day Parade in San Francisco in 1916. Her third book, Red Flag (1927), collected much of her political poetry. Writing The title poem of The Ghetto, and other poems (1918) portrays the Jewish community of Hester Street, New York, and deals with the effects of capitalism, gender conflict, and conflicts between generations on this immigrant community in ways that bear comparison to the works of Charles Reznikoff. Quotation :My doll Janie has no waist :and her body is like a tub with feet on it. :Sometimes I beat her :but I always kiss her afterwards. :When I have kissed all the paint off her body :I shall tie a ribbon about it :so she shan't look shabby. :But it must be blue - :it mustn't be pink - :pink shows the dirt on her face :that won't wash off. :I beat Janie :and beat her... :but still she smiled... :so I scratched her between the eyes with a pin. :Now she doesn't love me anymore... :she scowls... and scowls... :though I've begged her to forgive me :and poured sugar in the hole at the back of her head. :::-- from Sun-Up and Other Poems Recognition In 1935, Ridge was a Guggenheim Fellow. In 1936, she won the Shelley Memorial Award. Publications Poetry *[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4332 The Ghetto, and other poems]. New York: Huebsch, 1918. *[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4331 Sun-Up, and other poems]. New York: Huebsch, 1920. *''Red Flag''. New York: Viking Press, 1927. *''Firehead''. New York: Payson & Clarke, 1929. *''Dance of Fire''. New York: Smith & Haas, 1935. *''Light in Hand: Selected early poems '' (edited with an introduction by Daniel Tobin). Florence, MA: Quale Press, 2007. Non-fiction *''Woman and the Creative Will: A lecture by Lola Ridge, 1919'' (edited by Elaine Sproat). Ann Arbor, MI: Women's Studies Program, University of Michigan], 1981. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Lola Ridge, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 2, 2014. See also * List of U.S. poets References Fonds Her papers are held at Smith College.Lola Ridge Papers, 1900-1941, Smith College, Five College Archives and Manuscript Collections. Web, Jan. 25, 2015. Notes External links ;Poems * Lola Ridge 1873-1941 at the Poetry Foundation *2 poems by Ridge: "Manhattan," "Mother" *Ridge in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "The Song," "Iron Wine," "The Fiddler," "Dawn-wind," "The Edge," "Wild Duck," "Altitude," "After Storm," "Cactus Seed," "The Dream," "The Spilling of the Wine," "Snow Dance for the Dead," "The White Bird" *Lola Ridge at PoemHunter (84 poems) *Lola Ridge at Poetry Nook (120 poems) ;Audio / video *Lola Ridge poems at YouTube ;Books * * *Lola Ridge at Amazon.com ;About *"Lola Ridge: The radical modernist we won't forget twice" at Boston Review *"The Forgotten Feminism of Lola Ridge" at The New Republic * Lola Ridge (1873-1941) at Modern American Poetry. Category:1873 births Category:1941 deaths Category:American anarchists Category:New Zealand anarchists Category:Australian anarchists Category:American poets Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Women poets Category:People from Dublin (city) Category:Guggenheim Fellows Category:20th-century poets Category:Poets Category:American women writers Category:20th-century women writers Category:English-language poets